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Copy 1 



[TED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATION No. 136 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 



JANUARY, 1932 



CONSERVATION OF FERTILIZER MATERIALS 
FROM MINOR SOURCES 



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UNITED STATES 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON : 1932 



For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. 



Price 5 cents. 



Mosogrart 



N CONSERVATION OF FERTILIZER MATERIALS 
r FROM MINOR SOURCES 

By C. C. Fletcher, Associate Chemist, Division of Soil Fertility, Soil Investigations, 
Bureau of Chemistnj and Soils 



CONTENTS 



Page 

The value of composts 1 

Making composts 1 

The use of chemicals in composts 2 



Some practical suggestions 3 

Coal asbhes and spoiled feeds 5 

Analyses of various materials. 5 



THE VALUE OF COMPOSTS 

In maintaining soil fertility the periodic addition of organic matter 
plays an important part. Composts are constantly being made 
through the rotting of leaves, twigs, roots, and other organic matter 
as shown by the photograph on the title-page of this publication. 
Composts of various substances may help supply organic matter, and 
they also often supply nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash, and other 
elements needed by plants. The general farmer is forced to rely 
principally on stable manure, commercial fertilizers, and green-manure 
crops, but the small farmer, or suburbanite, can often use to advantage 
a great variety of waste substances which are valuable as fertilizers 
but obtainable in such small quantities as to make them unprofitable 
to handle on a commercial scale. In butchering hogs on the farm 
the blood, entrails, and several other parts are frequentl)^ wasted. 
These are all valuable fertilizers. Kitchen waste, provided it is free 
from soap, washing powders, glass, tin cans, and other injurious 
materials, should be fed to animals if possi])le; but if no chickens or 
pigs are kept, it should be used in composts as fertilizer. Dry leaves, 
weeds, sw^eepings from the house and barn, cofi'ee grounds, banana 
peelings, soot, and wood ashes, all have fertilizer value. These and 
many other materials should be saved and either applied direct to 
the soil or composted with manure before using. 

The value of composts has been i-ecognized for centuries in all agri- 
cultural countries, and compost heaps are conspicuous in the rural 
villages of European countries and are the prmcipal means of keeping 
up soil fertility in China. 

MAKING COMPOSTS 

It is possible to make composts in various ways, but the most 
common way is to alternate layers of stable manure with waste and 
absorbent materials, such as dried leaves, peat, muck, and sod. The 
pile is kept moist and turned several times in order to thoroughly 
mix the compost. The outside of the pile may be kept covered with 
soil. Where possible, at least half the material used should be 
manure, but if this quantity can not be obtained a small amount 
should be used, in any event, to inoculate the heap with the 

88371°— 32 1 



2 MISC. PUBLICATION 136, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 

bacteria of decomposition. In the principal cities dried bagged 
animal manures can be purchased. 

Another method of composting, where hogs are available, is to keep 
the animals in a tight pen, the floor of which is covered with a layer 
of straw or leaves. Absorbent material is added as needed, and the 
residues of foods, weeds, and cull vegetables, together with the 
manure, are thoroughly mixed and trampled by the hogs. If care is 
used this practice will yield a large amount of valuable compost, 
although the procedure is not recommended from a stock-raising 
standpoint. 

Where very fine material is desired, well-rotted compost may be 
screened, and the parts which are not tlioroughly broken down 
removed. (Fig. 1.) The screened material is particularly valuable 
where small and delicate plants have been set out or are being culti- 




, Figure l. — Screening well-rotted compost for special use 

vated. Such material may be used on lawns where the coarser 
material is too unsightlv and <i;ives slower results. 



THE USE OF CHEMICALS IN COMPOSTS 

It is possible to use chemicals either to hasten the decomposition 
of the waste materials or to increase the content of any needed 
element in the compost. Bone meal, superphosphate, or ground 
phosphate rock may be added to supply phosphoric acid, and an}^ 
of the potash salts to supply potash. Wood ashes are often available, 
and they supply not only potash but lime. Lime may be needed to 
reduce acidity as the proper bacteria may not act satisfactorily if the 
compost is too acid. It has long been recommended that chemical 
carriers of nitrogen be used to hasten decomposition. This thought 
w^ould naturally be suggested by the use of manure. In 1873 George 



CONSERVATION OF FERTILIZER MATERIALS 3 

F. Wilson, of the Riimford Chemical Works recommended that his 
"ammoniated superphosphate of lime" be used in the compost heap 
although it could be applied directly to the soil. The formula was as 
follows: 

Pounds 
Dried sulphate of lime containing 4% per cent of acid phosphate of lime__ 500 

Crystals of sulphate of ammonia 250 

Bi-phosphate of lime obtained by treating unburned bones, bone ash, 
bone-coal dust, and animal organic matter with an equivalent of oil of 
vitriol 1,250 

Total 2,000 

This formula is chiefly of historical interest. It called for material not 
now on the market and has been replaced by more modern formulas. 

SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS 

At the present time a patented chemical activator is on the market. 
This may be purchased, or standard fertilizer chemicals may be used. 
The following methods have been worked out and recommended by 
various experiment stations: 

The Rothamsted Agricultural Experiment Station, Harpenden, 
P^ngland, developed a process w^hich has been patented in the United 
States and elsewhere. The process consists essentially in adding to 
every ton of dry weight of plant refuse materials, such as straw or 
leaves, 100 pounds of sulphate of ammonia and 100 poimds of finely 
ground limestone. The straw is laid down in a layer about 1 foot 
thick and some of the chemicals applied, then another layer of straw 
or organic matter is used, followed again by chemical treatment, and 
this process is repeated until the pile is built up. During this opera- 
tion the pile is sprinkled with water and kept moist. It is highly 
essential that the pile at all times be kept w^et while it is undergoing 
the changes, and this can be accomplished more readily by making 
the pile concave so that it will retain the water. 

It is claimed that the straw is very rapidly reduced to manure 
in this way (wathin a period of a few weeks or months), and that the 
material resulting has the usual properties of decomposed manure. 
.V great shiinkage in the pile occms during this action, owing to the 
fact that the bacteria which are present in the straw or leaves act 
immediately and \'igorously under the influence of the sulphate of 
ammonia and finely ground limestone. An improved chemical re- 
agent similar in its action to that just described has been patented 
and is now on the American market. 

The New York Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva, N. Y., 
recommends that to each ton of dry straw" the following fertilizer 
materials be added: 

Pounds 

Sulphate of ammonia 60 

Ground limestone 50 

Superphosphate 30 

Muriate of potash 25 

Total 165 

The straw or other organic matter is spread out in a pile, layer by 
layer. Each 6-inch layer is treated with the chemicals. The pile is 
built up layer by layer until it is about 4 feet high. Each layer is 
wet as placed, and finally the pile is kept moist as decomposition oc- 



4 MISC. PUBLICATION 136, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 

curs. A mixture of this character started in July was thoroughly 
decomposed in three months. 

The Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station has used and recom- 
mends a mixture of 45 per cent ammonium sulphate, 40 per cent 
finely ground limestone, and 15 per cent acid phosphate. This 
mixture, used at the rate of 150 pounds per ton of straw, with moisture 
converts straw into a brown product having all the general properties 
of manure. The mixture may be applied to w^heat straw through the 
thresher, thus cutting down labor costs and making the process prac- 
tical under farm conditions. 

The Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station used two mixtures — 
one of 45 per cent ammonium sulphate, 23 per cent finely ground rock 
phosphate, and 32 per cent finely ground limestone, and the other of 








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FiGUUK 2. ( 'iiiai.ostiiii,' under farm condition? 

45 per cent ammonium sulphate, 15 per cent superphosphate (16 per 
cent grade), and 40 per cent finely groimd limestone. Both these 
mixtures made satisfactory composts when sufficient water was 
added. 

It is suggested that those interested in composts should consult 
their State experiment station as to the work of this character done in 
the State and ad^^se with the county agent regarding it. In view of 
the fact that patents have been taken out on certain composting proc- 
esses it may be well to consult the State agricultural authorities re- 
garding the use of these processes. 

When farm conditions do not warrant the extra time and expense 
required to make a carefully constructed compost heap, a pile of 
manure and compost material can be easily made and left to weather. 
This will give a very useful product with a minimum of cost and labor. 
Such a compost pile is shown in Figure 2. 



CONSERVATION OF FERTILIZER MATERIALS 5 

COAL ASHES AND SPOILED FEEDS 

Coal ashes have Httle vahie as a fertilizer, but when sifted and 
mixed with heavy clay soils they make the latter more productive by 
loosening- the soils and by the consequent improvement of moisture 
and tillage conditions. Wood is often used in starting coal fires, and 
as wood ashes contain from 5 to 10 per cent of potash this admixture 
tends to add to the value of the coal ashes. Soot is especially valuable 
for its content of nitrogen which averages 3 per cent. It should be 
carefully saved. 

Almost all commercial feeding stuffs are good fertilizers. They 
are usually worth more as feeds than as fertilizers, but they often 
become moldy or otherwise imfit for food, and in such event, instead 
of being destroyed, they should be saved and applied to the soil. 
The feeds rich in nitrogen, such as cottonseed meal, bran, and beef 
scrap, are especially valuable. 

ANALYSES OF VARIOUS MATERIALS 

The majority of the materials of which analyses are given in the 
following pages are not of sufficient value to justify purchase for use 
as fertiUzers, but they are of sufficient value to warrant composting 
or similar treatment on individual farms where they may be available 
at little or no cost. 

Tables 1 and 2, compiled mainly from standard textbooks, experi- 
ment station reports, and analyses made in the laboratory of the 
Bureau of Chemistry and wSoils, give percentages of nitrogen, phos- 
phoric acid, and potash, and indicate the relative values of many 
substances that may sometimes be used to advantage as fertilizer 
materials. Table 1 contains a list of some of the more common 
fertilizer materials for comparison with a great variety of other 
materials listed in Table 2 which may be used for making compost. 

Table 1. — Percentage composition of some standard commercial materials 



Fertilizer 



Nitrogen 



Phosphoric 
acid 



Potash 



Ammonium sulphate 

Calcium cyanamid 

Calcium nitrate 

Nitrate of soda 

Urea 

Cottonseed meal 

Dried ground fish 

Activated sewage sludge 

Dried blood 

Tankage 

Potassium nitrate 

Superphosphate 

Treble superphosphate 

Ammonium phosphate 

Basic slag 

Raw ground phosphate rock.. 

Ground bone (raw) 

Steamed bone meal 

Potassium sulphate 

Potassium chloride (muriate). 

Kainit 

Dried poultry manure 

Dried goat manm-e 

Dried sheep manure 



19. 0-20. 5 

19. 0-22. 

15.0 

15. 5-16. 25 

46.0 

6.6 

8.5 

5.0 

10. 0-14. 

11.0-12.5 

13.0 



2. 0-3. 

7.4 

2.75 

1. 0-5. 

1. 0-2. 



2.5-4.5 
2.5 



16. 0-20. 

44.0 

46.0 

17.0-18.0 

26. 0-35. 

20. 0-25. 

23.0 



1. 0-2. 



5.0 
1.35 
1. 51-3. 09 



1.95 

1.00 

. 95-2. 50 



48. 0-52. 

48. 0-60. 

12. 0-14. 

1.16 

3.00 

. 33-2. 24 



6 MISC. PUBLICATION 136, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 

Table 2. — Percentage composition of various materials 



Material 



Alfalfa hay 

Apple, fruit 

A pple, leaves 

Apple pomace 

Apple skins (ash) 

Ash from Cana tree... 

Banana skins (ash) 

Banana stalk (ash)- 

Barley (grain) 

Bat giiano 

Beet roots - 

Brewer's grains (wet) 

Brigham tea (ash) 

Ground hone, burned 

By-product from silk mills 

Cantaloupe rinds (ash) 

Castor-bean pomace 

Cattail reed and stems of waterlily. 

Cattail seed 

Coal ash (anthracite) 

Coal ash (bituminous) 

Cocoa-shell dust -. 

C offee grounds _ 

Coffee grounds (dried) 

Corncobs (ground, charred) 

C orncob ash 

Common crab 

Corn (grain) 

Corn (green foiage) 

Cottonseed 

Cottonseed-hull ashes 

C cttonseed-hull (ash) 

Cotton waste from factory 

Cowpeas, green forage 

Cowpeas, seed 

Crabgrass (green) 

Cucumber skins (ash) 

Dog manure 

Kried jellyfish 

Dried mussel mud 

Duck manure (fresh) 

Eggs. 



Eggshells (burned) 

Eggshells 

Feathers 

Field bean (seed) 

Field bean (shells) 

Fire-pit ashes from smokehouses 

Fish scrap (red snapper and grouper). 

Fish scrap (fresh) 

Fresh-water mud 

Garbage rubbish (New York City)--- 

Oarbage tankage 

Greasewood ashes 

Garden beans, beans and pods 

Gluten feed 

Greensand 

Grapes, fruit 

Grapefruit skins (ash) 

Hair 



Harbor mud 

Hoof meal and horn dust 

Incinerator ash 

Kentucky bluegrass (green) . . . 

Kentucky bluegrass (hay) 

King crab (dried and ground) . 

King crab (fresh) 

Leather (acidulated) 

Leather (ground) 

Leather, scrap (ash) 

Lemon culls, California 

Lemon skins (ash) 

Limekiln ash 

Do 

Lobster refuse 

Lobster shells 

Milk 



Mussels 

Molasses residue in manufacturing of alcohol _ 

Oak leaves 

Oats, grain 

Olive pomace 



Nitrogen 



1. 
1-12 



5- 6 
2. 



2- 7. 

1. 

3. 4-3. 

1 -2 



12 -Ui 
10 -15 



1. 

10. 

2 -2. 



Phosphoric 
acid 



0.50 
.02 
.15 
.02 

3.08 



3.25 
2.34 
.75 
2. 5-16 

.10 
.50 



.1- 
.4- 



34.70 
1.14 
9.77 
2-2. 5, 
.81 
.39 
.15 
.5 
1.49 
.32 
.3(5 



3.60 
.65 
.13 

1.25 
7-10 

8.70 
.45 
.12 

1.00 

.19 

11.28 

9.95 



.35 
1.44 
.40 
.43 

.38 



1.20 
.30 



13.00 
1.5-6 

.26 
. 1-1. 47 
..5-1 



1 -2 
.07 
3.58 



.77 
1.5-2 
5.15 
.19 
.40 
.26 



2.16 
.06 

6.30 
.75 
.5-1 

3.50 

3.52 
.30 
.12 



Potash 



2.10 

.10 

.35 

.15 

11.74 

15. 65 

41.76 

49. 40 

.50 



.50 
.05 



.12 

12.21 

1. 0-1. 25 

3.43 

1.71 

.1- .15 

.4- .5 

2.71 

.28 

.67 

2.01 

50.00 

.20 

.40 

.33 

1.15 

15-30 

23.93 

.36 

.45 

1.20 

.71 

27.20 

.30 



.49 
.15 
.29 
.14 



1.30 
.35 

4.96 
.38 



.22 

2. 25-4. 25 

.5 -1 

12.61 

.30 



5.00 

.30 

30. CO 



.05 



2.33 
.71 

1.55 
.06 



.35 

.26 

31. 00 

2.00 

. 1-1. 50 



.18 
.13 

5.32 
.15 
.60 

1.26 



CONSERVATION OF FERTILIZER MATERIALS 7 

Table 2. — Percentage composition of various materials — Continued 



Material 



Nitrogen 



Phosphoric 
acid 



Potash 



OHve refuse 

Orange culls ._^ 

Orange skins (ash) 

Pea pods (sish) 

Peanuts, seeds or kernels 

Peanut shells 

Peanut shells (ash) 

Picker dirt from cotton mill 

Pigeon manure (fresh) 

Pigweed, rough 

Pine needles 

Potatoes, tubers 

Potatoes, leaves, and stalks 

Potato skins, raw (ash) 

Poudrette 

Powder-works waste 

Prune refuse 

Pumpkins, flesh.-. 

Pumpkin seeds 

Rabbit-brush ashes 

Ragweed, great 

Red clover, hay 

Redtop hay 

Residuum from raw sugar 

Rockweed 

Roses, flowers 

Rhubarb, stems 

Rock and nmssel deposits from sea 

Sagebrush (ashes) 

Do 

Salt-marsh hay 

Salt mud 

Saltpeter waste 

Sardine scrap 

Seaweed (Atlantic City, N. .1.) 

Sewage sludge from filter beds 

Shoddy and felt 

Shoddy dirt from woolen mill • 

Shrimp heads (dried) 

Shrimp waste., 

Siftings from oyster-shell mound 

Silkworm cocoons 

Soot from chimney flues 

Spanish moss 

Starfish 

S tring-bean strings and stems (ash) 

Sunflower seed 

Sweetpotato skins, boiled (ash) 

Sweetpotatoes 

Tanhark ash 

Tanbark ash (spent) 

Tea grounds 

Tea-leaf ash 

Timothy hay 

Tobacco leaves 

Tobacco stalks 

Tobacco stems 

Tomatoes, fruit 

Tomatoes, leaves 

Tomatoes, stalks 

Waste from hares and rabbits 

Waste from felt-hat factory 

Waste product from paint manufacture 

Waste gunpowder (sweepings from powder mill). 

Waste silt 

Wheat, bran 

Wheat, grain 

Wheat, straw 

White clover (green)... 

White sage (ashes) 

Wood ashes (leached) 

Wood ashes (unleached) 

Wool waste 



1.22 
.20 



3.60 
.80 



1.37 
4.19 
.60 
.46 
.35 
.60 



1.46 
2-3 

.18 
.16 

.87 



.76 
2. 10 
1.20 
1.14 
1.90 
.30 
.10 
.22 



1.10 
.40 
. 52-3. 3 



.74 
4-12 
4.40 
7.82 
2.87 

.36 
9.42 
.5-11 

.60 
1.80 



2.25 
""."25" 



4.15 



1.25 

4.00 

3.70 

2.50 

.20 

.35 

.35 

7.00 

13.80 

.028 

10.28 

8-11 

2.65 

2.00 

.50 

.50 



0.18 
.13 

2.90 

1.79 
.70 
.15 

1.23 
.68 

2.24 
.16 
.12 
.15 
.15 

5.18 

3.68 



.07 
.07 
.50 



.26 
.50 
.35 
8.33 
.25 
.10 
.04 
.09 



.25 



7.11 
.75 
.33 



.20 

4.20 

9.95 

10. 38 

1.82 

1.05 

.10 

.20 

4.99 

1.25 

3.29 

.10 

.24 

1.5-2 

.62 

1.60 

.55 

.50 

.65 

.90 

.07 

.10 

.10 

1. 7-3. 1 



39.50 



2.90 
.85 
.15 
.20 



1-1.5 

1-2 

2-4 



0. 32 

.21 

27. 00 

9.00 

.45 

.50 

6.45 

1.56 

1.41 



.03 
.50 
.45 

27. 50 
.48 

-18 

.31 

.26 

.45 

13.04 



2.00 
1.00 



3.68 
.40 

.35 
1.78 
4.10 
5.42 



5. 6-13. 7 



4.93 
.24 



.09 

1.08 

.35 

.55 

.25 

18.03 

.79 

13. 89 

.50 

.38 

1. 5-2. 5 

.40 

.44 

1.00 

6.00 

4.50 

7.00 

.35 

.40 

..50 

.60 

.98 



34.50 



1.60 
.50 
.60 
.30 
13.77 
1-3 
4-10 
1-3 



o 



fililif 

002 755 774 § 



